


Code Lupine

by katybear1128



Category: Code:Realize ～創世の姫君～ | Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth (Visual Novel)
Genre: Character Death, Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth (Visual Novel), F/M, Gen, Lupin's Route, Two OCs - Freeform, Will put another archive warning if this is the case, mentions of abuse, possibly explicit abuse in future chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-05-25 08:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14972891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katybear1128/pseuds/katybear1128
Summary: After losing her older brother in the wilds of London, six-year-old Edith Wulfric finds herself under the wings of none of than the Code Realize gang. However, not everything is as black and white as it seems, especially when Edith's brother Hugh finds himself assisting in taking down Twilight in return for Victor's help in dealing with the real reasons he and Edith came to London, all while a certain precocious child has inner secrets of her own. This is Code Lupine.





	1. The Quest for Answers

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This is my first fan fic on here, so if it's bad, please go easy on me! However, I'd appreciate any and all feedback. The characters of Hugh and Edith Wulfric are actually based on characters from a story from around the Victorian and Edwardian era, but I'm not gonna say what it is for fear of everyone figuring out the plot. 
> 
> That being said, I hope you enjoy!

Code Lupine, chapter 1

The steam and smoke of London machines and factories masked the moon, which the tiny girl was grateful for. Sure, she didn’t quite understand why her family hated the moon so much, but she was much more comfortable when she couldn’t see it. The moon was almost full, so next week would probably be the full moon, if her monthly math was right. She had read all about the moon cycles with her older brother, whom she had lost in the crowd several days ago. Thankfully, she was able to hide in the many nooks and crannies that Lower London had to offer, and no one ever gave her trouble, at least not like the trouble that the townspeople sometimes did at home. When she had asked Hugh where they were going a week and a half earlier, he had just smiled, obviously strained.

“Somewhere where we can find answers safely, dear one,” he had answered, rubbing a soothing hand over the back of her head, smoothing out the wild strands of brown hair that had managed to escape from the braid. He had styled her hair into a braid earlier that day to fit in amongst London society, but she had torn it out shortly after she lost Hugh because it was too tight and had hurt her head.

The memory of her brother leaving her-no, no, no, no, littlest Wulfric! That was not true, and she knew it. He didn’t leave her, he just got caught up with something and was just trying to find her because she had left her spot by the lamppost. It was her own fault that she was lost, Hugh didn’t do anything! Either way, it caused her eyes to fill up with tears. She just needed to find him so they could find the answers they needed. Just get the answers, and then they could go home. What answers were those? She didn’t know exactly, but they must have been important if her brother thought they were important enough to travel to London.

Home. Was that the town of Kent? Or would they make a new home somewhere else after they were done here? The townspeople never liked her or her family, so what would be the point in going back? Maybe, just maybe, they could move somewhere else! Start over! Stratford-Upon-Avon, maybe? That had been Shakespeare’s hometown, and the newspapers had made it seem so pretty. It was a small town, so it would be comfortable, not overwhelming like London was. In London, someone was always almost tripping over her, talking about the news or politics or gambling or drinking or a whole lot else that she just did not care about.

Speaking of drinking, a couple of drunken stragglers tripped over her tiny form. She grunted as she caved in on herself.

“Watchit, kid, or ya gon’ get buuuurned,” one of the men slurred at her, throwing his bottle down right next to her head. She flinched as it shattered, the noise echoing in her ear. The scars on her neck seemed to throb in time with her pulsing heartbeat as she stayed on the ground until the pounding of footsteps seemed to fade as they went the opposite direction of her still crouched form.

She stood up shakily and resisted the urge to cry. She was strong, she had dealt with her parents’ death as well as the deaths of her sisters, so she could find her way in a new place, no problem. Definitely. Absolutely. A hundred percent. Even if it was getting dark...and it was getting scarier...and darker...and harder to find her way...and sadder as the grey and rust colors of the city seemed even more depressing than usual. A tear fell.

Well, so much for that plan. She let the tears fall, but she still didn’t feel comfortable making any sound. If any of the scary people heard her make a noise, they’d yell at her again. She was used to being spat on and yelled at, but it seemed even worse in London. She had best find a box or wooden crate to hide in along the many interconnected alleyways. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would find a dress that had been thrown away? Or even kid’s clothes? She felt like she had been wearing the same clothes for weeks now. Granted, it had only been a week and a half since she and her older brother had left Kent for London, so really, she shouldn’t have been complaining at all.

The little girl had theorized her emotional break-down was due to the lack of sleep she had been getting in the wooden crates. They were really hard on a kid’s back, after all, and falling completely asleep despite everything stressing her out was a really stupid idea when there were a bunch of bigger people that could easily maim or harm her, even by accident. Then her brother would be all alone permanently, and she would not let that happen, no matter what!

The littlest Wulfric child felt herself fill up with determination as she pushed forwards down the alley. She would stay safe, she would stay strong, and she would find the answers that they were looking for.

Now if only she could remember the questions that they needed to ask to get those answers, then that would make her quest a lot easier. She giggled to herself at her choice of words. A quest. It reminded her of the stories that the her family would tell her. Her sisters would always tell her about Cinderella and Rapunzel, but her brother preferred the Greek and Roman myths. Her favorite was the story of Atalanta, the greatest mortal huntress and athlete of them all, who did not marry until she found a man who was worthy of her.

So she was the brave and strong Atalanta, and her quest was to find answers. As the heroine of the tale, she would do it!

She yelped as a glass bottle broke somewhere in the distance before scolding herself.

“You are the strongest warrior ever! You only are happy when you make yourself happy. Don’t be scared. Go,” she thought, jumping up and down to pump herself up a little bit more. “But where do I start?” she asked aloud to herself. She sat down, stumped. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. The child brightened when she remembered the piece of paper that her brother had told her to hold on to mere hours before he had disappeared. It had the picture of a man with roundish glasses on his face, announcing that he was a wanted criminal. She remembered to back when Hugh was telling her that he would most likely have at least parts of the answers they were going to be looking for in London.

_One Week and Four Days Ago..._

_“What are the answers, Hughie?” she asked him sleepily as he carried her on his back through the countryside since the train had dropped them off at the halfway point between Kent and London. “Why are we searching for ‘em? Are they important?” Hugh, instead of trying to laugh for her sake like he normally did, just sighed deeply._

_“These answers are the only way we can be respected, dear one, especially with the bite you sustained. We need to find a doctor for you, so you’ll be healthy again. And then I need another doctor or man of science, so he can tell us what our artifact is.” She hadn’t responded, so he chuckled. “So yes, dear one, these answers are very important.” She tensed up._

_“Doctor? Like Doctor Brixton?” she asked, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice. She hadn’t liked Doctor Brixton at all. He kept trying to get her to come in for medical exams even though her family couldn’t afford it, and when she finally caved one day, the back of her head had scratches from when he had gripped her head, and her jaw and neck had been super sore from her mouth staying open so long. Needless to say, she never went back._

_Doctor Brixton had gone missing the day after she came home, trying to keep her tears hidden from her older brother. Hugh’s hands’ tightened underneath his little sister’s legs._

_“No. Nothing like Dr. Brixton. I promise, this doctor will treat you nicely. He and I were students together at the Royal Academy, and he is possibly one of the most kind-hearted people I have ever known. He is skilled in many sciences, and he will help you, I’m sure of it,” he reassured her, craning his neck back to kiss his sister’s nose. She giggled._

_“Who’s he?”_

_“His name’s Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The man had many talents and interests. We became friends of sorts at the Royal Academy, and I am hoping that despite our respective situations, he’s  willing to help out an old friend nonetheless,” he explained. She nodded and rested her chin on her older brother’s shoulder._

_“What’s his situation? Is he in trouble?” she asked. Hugh pulled out an article from his pocket and gave it to her. She read it. “He caused a ‘splosion?”_

_“Explosion. And I don’t know and I don’t care if he did or not, because he is still my overly intelligent, out-of-shape friend. He will help us, I know it,” her brother asserted. She nodded._

_“Why do we need answers for what’s on my neck? Did I do something wrong?” she asked, feeling ashamed of herself. “I didn’t mean to get hurt, honest!” He stopped and set her down before picking her up in a front carry and hugged her for a moment before kissing her forehead._

_“You did nothing wrong, dear. Absolutely nothing, and that is the last time I want you to say something like that, understand?” he asked, somehow sounding calm and fierce at the same time. She nodded and buried her head into the crook of his neck._

_“Why do we need answers for my neck? It doesn’t even hurt much anymore, it just thumps sometimes,” she protested. “I don’t wanna see a doctor!” Hugh sighed, this one sounding a bit more frustrated than sad like the ones before it._

_“I’m sorry, Edie, but I really want you to see a doctor, alright? I am worried about you. You have been feeling sickly sometimes, have you not? The bite marks have not gone away, so I apologize if you don’t want to see one, but we have to! This man, he’s good at what he does, and he’s nothing but gentle with any live subject, I promise, so trust me, please?” he ranted. Eddie felt tears start to stream down her face at her brother’s raised tone. His face softened, and he let her bury her face back in the crook of his neck. He sighed again and placed a gently kiss on the top of her head as a silent apology._

_“I hope we find these answers, Hughie,”she finally mumbled before letting out a yawn. His grip on her tightened protectively._

_We will, poppet.” He kissed her head one more time. “I’ll take care of it. Big brother will take care of everything.”_

Maybe to take care of everything, he had to go by himself on the errand? Edith shook her head to get such irrelevant thoughts out of her head. It didn’t matter where her brother was now. All that mattered were the answers. These answers would make her brother happy again, and their lives would go back to normal.

Step one, find this Dr. Frankenstein man. He’d look at her neck, give away the neck’s answers, and she’d be on her way. Simple. Edith continued walking down the alley her back straight and tall as she could make it. The more she looked like a grown-up, the more grown-ups would want to help. Three cloaked figures in strange beak masks blocked her path at the end of the alley way. Edith cleared her throat and thrust out the newspaper in front of the men.

“My name is Edith Rose Wulfric. I am six years old, and I like to climb trees and read. I am looking for this man,” she announced, trying to sound as cordial as her brother did when announcing himself and her to the guards outside of London’s gates. The men said nothing as they approached her. Edith tried again. “My brother said that he’s a doctor and that he could help me find answers. I know he started a ‘splosion, but if--HEY!” The three men tore the newspaper from her grasp and grabbed her shoulders roughly. “Ow! Lemme go! Please! I need to find Dr. Frankenstein, and it’s super ‘portant!” The men only gripped her shoulders tighter the more she struggled. “I SAID PLEASE!”

Adults taught her how to say please, so why didn’t they respect her when she used it?! Dr. Brixton didn’t, these jerks aren’t...Tears began waterfalling down her face as they started to drag her away as she thrashed in their grip. No, she needed to make her brother happy, she needed to find these answers, and she needed to find Dr. Frankenstein! “STAH-AH-AH-AHP,” she sobbed, her fast breathing breaking up the command.

As if the shadows had heard her plea, the three bird men dropped like flies. She tried to look for her savior to thank them properly, but a hand gripped her by the skin on the back of her neck, causing her to cry out.

“I’m sorry for this, little Wulfric girl, but there is no other way to protect our way of life,” she heard a womanly voice say, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Edith was about to ask what she meant by that when she felt two pairs of hand hold her spread eagle, one hand each holding a leg and an arm.

“Oh for the love of--she’s a child?!” Edith heard a man’s baritone voice demand.

“It matters not, the Alpha wants them all dead. There can be no exceptions,” the man holding her on the right side growled. The other man let out what sounded like an angry growl.

“You cannot seriously expect me to take the life of a girl who’s younger than my own pups, Lyall,” the younger man snapped. The woman next to her whined softly.

“Clell, if you won’t do it, then one of us will have to. This is our mission that the Alpha gave us, and we must see it through for the good of the pack.”

“I can be good! Just let me go to the Alpha and tell him so! I can be good,” Edith managed to beg through her tears. The woman holding her winced.

“That is not how things work, pup,” the woman tried to coo, despite her quavering voice. “Please, stay still and this will be painless for you.” At hearing that there might be pain, Edith began struggling even more and whimpering louder.

“Just put her to sleep already! I can’t take the whimpering anymore. Loveta, stop trying to reassure her, you’re just making yourself attached to her,” the man holding her side snapped.

“No! I am NOT killing a kid, no matter who she is!”

“Why does it matter who I am?” Edith cried. The adults fell silent and the girl heaved out sobs so heavily that she nearly made herself vomit. “Yo-you sh-shoo-shouldn’t k-k-k-k-kill ev-ev-eveeeer!” The woman next to her shushed her as soothingly as she could, but the quavering and tears falling on Edith’s shoulders affirmed that she had started crying.

“DAMN IT, CRELL, GET YOUR CLAWS OUT! YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOUR PUPS!”

“Protecting my pups doesn’t mean that I have to kill this pup in return! Hell, Lyall, she’s so young that even if they did teach her anything, she probably has no idea what it means!”

“I WANT MY BIG BROTHER!” All three adults stopped their noises and movements.

“She’s loyal to her brother,” Loveta whispered in horrified realization.

“Even if she doesn’t know what her family’s been up to the past few decades, she will soon, and she’ll carry on their tradition. Crell, you have to kill her, son. There’s no other way,” Lyall said quietly. “You know how to do it quickly. She won’t even know it happened.” Edith struggled some more.

“YES I WILL!” With a roar of anguish, Crell rushed forward. Time seemed to flow in slow motion, as Crell appeared to move through honey. Instead of her torso being sliced open so that all of her vital organs were struck at once, someone had turned her to the side so that the thick and vaguely knife-like objects only grazed her sides. However, the depth of the cuts allowed the blood to stream down her sides in wide paths and streaks of blood. Suddenly, she was in someone else’s arms, and the alleyway had been overcome with a thick white smoke.

“What the hell?!”

“What is going on? It was supposed to be a clear night,” Crell demanded, feeling his way with the wall. The woman simply sobbed; whether it was relief or grief, the two men would never know.

“Murder is bad enough, but murdering a child who is pleading for their life is another crime that is too unspeakably awful to let ignorant mongrels like yourselves get away with,” came her savior’s voice. Unfortunately, it was not her brother’s, but this man obviously had no intent of hurting her, so she’d accept that for now. “So for that, I must bid you adieu. I hope our paths never cross again, or you will regret it.” With that, the man ran silently through the shadows of Lower London. Edith still sobbed against his chest.

“I’m s-s-s-s…” The man shushed her.

“Don’t even think about speaking full sentences right now, child. You must have had quite a fright back there, but you were being very brave for the circumstances. My name is Arsene Lupin, gentleman thief, and your hero for this evening. Please try to stay awake for me. Can you do that?” Edith nodded, though the man’s face was blurry. She wasn’t sure if she was passing out or if he was simply blurry because of her tears.

“Mhm,” she voiced, not willing to speak fully. She wasn’t sure, but she thought the man had a mask on.

“Wonderful.  What is your name, my dear?” She mumbled again.

“Edith...Edith Wul…”she trailed off. She was so sleepy...nothing sounded better than a fluffy bed and pillow at the moment. She felt the man slap her cheek lightly.

“Alright, Edith, please stay with me, alright? I’m going to our doctor now, but you have to be awake for him,” Arsene Lupin insisted. “Please, we’re going to make it back, just stay awake!”

Edith gave in to the black edges that were encroaching on her field of vision.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter in which canon characters appear! Also Delly is concerned.

Edith whimpered as she turned onto her left side, snuggling her face into the pillowcase and the fluffier comforter. Her eyes shot open and they darted around the darkened room. The moon shone uncomfortably bright through the windows, bordered by white lace curtains, that billowed because of the draft leaking through the window. She yelped in pain as something pulled at her skin. She wriggled and writhed out of the long and lacy rose-pink nightgown ( _ “When did I put this on?” _ she wondered) and looked at the criss-cross bandage pattern on her side. Dried brown spots littered the bandages. In curiosity, she poked them, only to pull her hand away quickly because of the immense pain that radiated from her wounds. 

“Maybe if I take the bandages off to make them less tight?” she mused to herself quietly. With a little bit of searching, she managed to find the end of the bandages and unwrap her body. Honestly, the action was so repetitive and rhythmic that soon Edith was soothed by it. Once the bandages were off, Edith gently traced her fingers over the cuts, which had scabbed over with many bumps, some of the bumps in an “x” pattern. 

_ “What happened to me?”  _ Edith questioned in her mind. She DEFINITELY hadn’t found a room this nice to sleep in. Unless...she gulped as a fresh wave of tears threatened to surge. Those men in the bird masks? Or those shadowy silhouettes who had been trying to murder her? Had they taken her? If so, then why was she still alive? Had something happened after the three people had tried to kill her? Probably, but  **what** , exactly was another matter all together. At this point, too many questions and not enough answers fired off in her head. After all, she had read that kidnapping victims in big cities like London sometimes fell into a false sense of security after they were kidnapped and were placed in bigger more expensive houses. Edith felt defiance roar through her. She would NOT be a victim. She’d be a heroine instead!

Despite the bright moon outside, she looked at the door. She didn’t see a wire or anything like in the secret service accounts she had read, so that meant it was probably safe, right? Ignoring the insistent twinging of her gashes, she crept to the door and stood on her tip toes so that she could reach the ornamented gold and bronze door knob. She marveled about how the door knob felt in her tiny hand, with intertwining swirls, like a circular maze of vines that seemed to have no end. She twisted it and pushed the door open hesitantly.

The corridor lead into obscurity for the child; pitch-black nothingness was all that seemed to be ahead of her. She looked to the other end of the hallway with the same result. Edith took a deep breath, and the littlest Wulfric turned right down the hallway. This direction appeared to be the correct way, since there were more rooms down this way and a giant spiral staircase that led both upstairs and downstairs.

Based on the window that had been in her room, Edith had to guess that she was on the second floor, and most of the time, the exit was on the first floor. She carefully stepped onto the first wooden step and kept a firm hold on the railing as she tried to make her way to the exit. Edith clamped her mouth shut to restrain a squeak when she heard the floor creak and moan. She paused for a few moments to make sure she hadn’t been detected and continued to make her way down the stairs. 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Delacroix II, whom the others annoyingly referred to as “Delly”, was not sleeping. He had never been a good sleeper to begin with, but his insomnia only multiplied when he had been forced to move into this stupid and uncomfortable manor by the stupidest humans of them all, all because of the human girl’s stupid pity and the fact that his mortal enemy was staying there. How had just three days gone so wrong so quickly? He was still suspicious of Van Helsing’s motives. Who wanted to die, after all? Not unless a person had experienced significant loss, and what did Van Helsing know about loss? He was the one who murdered his family and race in cold blood. Delacroix shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. None of that mattered now. What did matter was that there was something amiss, a possible intruder! Now he did not like any of the humans he was forced to reside with, but he did know that he wanted to be the one to kill Van Helsing when his supposed mission was done.

And he couldn’t do that if Van Helsing was already dead!

He got out of the bed and patted his thigh to summon his new servant, SiSi. For a dog, he was surprisingly understanding, compassionate, and overall, just brilliant. SiSi gave a long, laborious stretch and hopped down to follow his new friend. Delacroix opened his door, looked both ways, and double-started when he saw a very short person, shorter than any of the residents here, move down the hallway hesitantly, another sign that she did not belong in this house. The residents, himself included, already knew this house like the back of their hands, so no one would ever move that slowly unless they were plotting how to take it down. 

However, he couldn’t attack yet. He needed to know what they were after first. If they were after murder, then they would be exterminated like they pest they undoubtedly were. However, they didn’t seem to be looking for someone to murder, rather they seemed to be looking for a way out. Well, he wouldn’t just allow that! How could he when his security was at risk? He moved to follow the tiny figure.

He realized with a start that the tiny figure was a girl, based on the way she gasped when he moved on a particularly loud piece of hardwood. Delacroix cursed himself in his mind. If he knew the area better, then his vampiric stealth would have allowed him to sneak up on this dimwitted human girl, no problem. Another reason to loathe the humans he was forced to interact with, forcing him to live in an environment where he did not always have the advantage. He waited until he heard the girl land on the main floor with the swish of her bare feet before starting down the staircase himself. He stepped slowly and deliberately, carefully not making a sound. SiSi did the same.

“Good dog,” he whispered once he felt it was safe. SiSi’s happy panting was the only response. The girl made a high-pitched, frustrated noise as she turned and saw the many different doors and hallways that led to different parts of the manor.

“Which one leads outside?” The girl asked herself. Delacroix felt his eyebrows furrow together once he heard her speaking voice. She sounded like she was younger physically than he was. How’d she get in the house then, at this age? Granted, he was a notorious thief himself, but he was still quite a bit older than her. 

“How?” he murmured to himself. The little girl grunted with effort, but she tugged on the larger door in the middle of the left-hand side of the floor. The library. Was she needing information? If so, then the library was a logical place to start. But why this library? Did Saint Germain’s personal library have books that other libraries didn’t?

“Wow,” the girl muttered in awe, not bothering to keep her voice down. “This wasn’t what I wanted to do, but there are so many books in here!” He wasn’t sure if he was grateful for the kid speaking out loud or if he found it stupid and annoying. “Maybe I can find my answers here?” He straightened, back to business. What answers was she looking for? “But if I was taken, then I shouldn’t stay here.” He scowled. Of course, that’s what happened. The people in this house had been prepared to take him to this place by force as well. They hadn’t outright  _ said  _ that, but the connotation was clear.

_ “Does this make her an ally then, or an enemy?”  _ he questioned. The girl appeared to have made her decision as she cautiously lit a gas lamp that dimly lit up the library. She sat on the ground as she began looking at book titles, her fingers ghosting the spines of the books gently. Apparently none of the books had any appeal to her because she stood up to a kneeling position and repeated the process, only this time, she actually picked up a book. He squinted to make out the title of the book she was holding. 

“ _ Disorder of Nerves in the Neck _ ? Why would she need a book like that?” SiSi woofed softly in agreement with his confusion. Unfortunately, SiSi’s ‘woof’ was loud enough for her to hear. She slammed the book shut and picked up the nearest weapon she could find…

A...quill?

Why him? Hell, if he had to have a challenger, at least make the challenger competent! 

“Please, I d-d-don’t want trouble,” she stated, backing herself up so that her back hit the wall. “I-I-I dunno what you want with me, but you’re not gonna get it!” Ugh, he just wanted this over with. She didn’t belong here, and they both knew it. He really didn’t feel like expending the effort to kill her, so getting information seemed like the next best option. He stepped forward into the light. 

“A quill is not a satisfactory weapon,” he scolded. The girl clenched her jaw, even though she had begun to tremble. 

“I can make it work,” the girl assured, trying to sound haughty and confident but failing badly. He scoffed. 

“How? You don’t even have any ink to blind me with. You’re going to lose badly. What are you doing here?” he demanded. 

“What are you doing here?” she shot back, glaring at him with puffed out cheeks. He glowered at her.

“I asked you first!”

“I asked you second!” Delacroix spluttered for a second before regaining his composure.

“The order in which the question was asked doesn’t have anything to do with the question I just asked you, little girl. Answer my question!”

“No! Who are you, what are you doing here, and why am I here?” she snapped. He glowered but answered regardless. 

“I am the king of the night, leader of the Nosferatu, and heir to the Delacroix name. I am Delacroix the Second. Now who are you?”

“Like you don’t know. I’m young, but I’m not stupid, and I’m not sc-scared ‘cuz you have a title! Why am I here?” Despite the dimness of the light, he could see the fear and determination in her unnervingly bright grey eyes that made her seem all the more frightened with her thick brown hair sticking out in every direction. Delacroix didn’t care if she was scared, she had just insulted his family. He wouldn’t let that slide. He was on her in an instant, holding her forearm in a harsh grip. She yelped as she struggled to get away from him. 

“Then you are a fool. My family and my heritage is the strongest and purest that there is. And what do you have? An attitude? You have nothing because you are nothing,” he hissed, his eyes flashing angrily. At that, she tried to wrench away from him, and a tearing sound echoed through the library. She screamed in agony as blood began to leak through the soft cotton and lace of the night gown. He shuddered at the scent of her blood. Something about it was… off. It didn’t smell like any human’s blood that he had ever smelled. She took advantage of his confusion, and she bit his forearm as hard as she could. 

He let go, out of shock more than anything. After all, her bite didn’t even leave a dent in his skin. Biting? This child was...really acting like a child. Was she actually a child? He thought that she may have been like him, in a way, much older than she looked by human standards, but the more time he spent arguing with her, the less convincing that theory became. He reached for her but missed by a millimeter as she began scaling the giant bookshelves. 

“Leave me alone,” she commanded. “I didn’t do anything!” He began scaling the bookshelf after her. 

“Obviously, you have, or you wouldn’t be running away like a coward,” he retorted, trying to grab her ankle. She dodged, grabbing a book with one hand and throwing it at his head. The corner hit the crown of his head, causing him to growl as more and more books bombarded his field of vision. He let go, just to give her a chance, no other reason! He landed gracefully on his feet as the child made her way to the top of the bookshelf and began pushing all of the books in his directions. It didn’t seem as if she was even seeing him anymore, she was just trying to get away. 

“What the hell is going on? Other people live in this manor, you know,” his nemesis growled, rubbing the sleep out of his face. Delacroix glared at him.

“You think this is my fault?! Blame her,” he snapped, pointing at the girl, who was arming herself with more books. Van Helsing squinted up at the dark figure on top of the book shelves.

“Who the hell is she?” Delacroix growled in his throat at the fact that Van Helsing didn’t seem to be taking the intruder seriously. He spoke as if she was some unplanned house guest rather than an actual threat. 

“That’s what I was trying to find out until you barged in and interrupted my process,” he snapped. Van Helsing rose an eyebrow. 

“So getting books launched at you is part of this process.” On cue, the vampire got hit square in the face with a hardcover copy of  “Il Principe”. Delacroix’s face turned red.

“Oh, that’s it, prepare to die!”

“No!” The girl sent a whole row of books flying on top of them, and Van Helsing cocked a gun and shot through them. The girl went dead still and she stared at the gun, unsure what to do now.

“Do you want to come down now, kid?” Van Helsing asked, not lowering his guns. The girl sprinted to the side and leaped for one of the support beams that held up the ceiling. By some miracle, she made it, and she hauled herself up. She clung on to the beam like a sloth, her face buried in the beam. She was saying something, but it was muffled by the polished mahogany wood. “Oh, for God’s sake,” he muttered before putting his gun away. “Come on, kid, we aren’t going to hurt you. Why don’t you come down?” 

“Not yet, anyways,” Delacroix muttered, crossing his arms. The girl obviously heard him because her whimpering got louder and her thin arms tightened around the beams. Van Helsing growled and gave the young vampire lord a glare. “Why are you giving me that look? She doesn’t belong in here, and you know it!” 

“You all realize the hour it is, do you not?” Saint Germain’s voice interrupted, almost bordering on irritation. “What constitutes the books on the floor and the screaming?” Delacroix and Van Helsing pointed to the girl on the beam. “Oh my. Why is she in my library?”

“That’s what I was asking!” Delacroix was obviously growing more and more perturbed. “I’m just going up and getting her!”

“That wouldn’t be smart, Delly.” Everyone turned to Victor who had walked into the room. “I know who she is, and she doesn’t know who any of us are, so it would be best if we either got Lupin to come calm her down or if we tried coaxing her down gently.” Van Helsing crossed his arms.

“Already tried that. Kid’s scared out of her mind, so nothing gentle seems to be working.” 

“If I may, you do not exactly exude a gentle aura, Van Helsing,” Saint Germain noted.

“That is the most accurate truth I’ve heard since being in this house,” Delacroix muttered, glaring daggers at Van Helsing. Van Helsing winced as Saint Germain turned towards Victor.

“You brought someone into my house without consulting me first?” Saint Germain asked, acting as if he didn’t sense the tension between Delacroix and Van Helsing. “I don’t mind, but a little forewarning would have been appreciated.” Saint Germain didn’t sound annoyed, rather he sounded somewhat amused. Victor made a noise that sounded both annoyed and distressed.

“I didn’t, Lupin did! He came to me with this bleeding little girl, what was I supposed to do? She was incredibly hurt, really hurt, and nearly died while I was trying to stop the bleeding. I stitched her up, gave her some general anesthesia and pain medicine, so I didn’t expect her to be up until midday, not three in the morning, and I didn’t think she would be this terrified,” he explained, clearly agitated as he looked up to the ceiling in worry.

“What happened to her?” Van Helsing asked, more alert now. Even Delacroix was listening to Victor’s responses attentively. Victor just shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t know! Lupin just barged through my door, woke me up, said, ‘Fix her’ and wouldn’t leave me alone with her until he was satisfied that she’d make it through the night!” He sighed and continued. “When I was stitching her up, I noticed her wounds seemed to be a mix between a stab wound and a slash wound. They were deep, but they were wide in width. I don’t know of any blades that leave that sort of mark!”

“So she was definitely attacked,” Van Helsing surmised grimly. “Not an accident?”

“No, most definitely not.” Everyone looked at Lupin, who had finally entered the library. “She was being forcibly restrained by two assailants, one man and woman, while one other man did the dirty work. I was ensuring my payment when I heard a little child sobbing, and I couldn’t just let that go, so I followed the sound and found her. As a gentleman, I could not let a lady die, no matter how young she was,” he clarified. “Allow me.” Only Arsene Lupin could climb a bookshelf gracefully. He balanced on the beam and crawled towards the girl, who was still trying to inch her way to the middle of the beam. 

“Go ‘way,” she yelled another time. Lupin shushed her soothingly.

“Ah, but why would I go away, my dear, when we have not had time to properly meet?” he asked smoothly. “You were a very charming young lady when we managed to speak before. You fell asleep when I told you not to,” he fake chastised. The girl’s head shot up as her eyes widened in recognition. 

“M-mister Luping?” she asked hesitantly. 

“Lupin, miss Edith,” he corrected gently. “Did you not remember me, young lady?” The girl, Edith, shook her head as tears finally trickled down from her eyes. “Ah, do not worry, child. You’re experiencing a lapse in memory, but that means that the doctor has to examine you again with this in mind. Come now,” he invited, holding out his hand gently. Edith grabbed it with no hesitation.

“Thank God for small favors,” Van Helsing muttered. Lupin “tsked” gently when she came towards him. 

“Well, this won’t do. How did your stitches come out? You’ve stained the nightgown that I had given you. Well, we’ll have to get those re-stitched, now won’t we?” Edith felt alarms blare in her mind as soon as he said “re-stitched”, but his manner was still incredibly soothing, so it seemed like she had no control over whether or not she trusted him. She nodded as Lupin picked her up gently under his arm and climbed down the bookshelf. “Victor! Come with me back to your room so you can fix her again!” Victor just looked at him helplessly.

“W-what? Those stitches were supposed to last at least a week. Is she showing any signs fatigue? Is she paler normal? Is there any twitching or spasming?” Victor was hovering over Lupin’s shoulder as he carried her out of the library.

“Her stitches came out. No one else can do this but you.” Victor nodded and followed Lupin and Edith out of the room. Impey entered the library, giving Victor and Lupin a strange look before starting suddenly at the state of the library.

“Alright, what did I miss?”

“Everything,” everyone answered in unison.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter in which the plot starts to form, Cardia makes Edith's acquaintance, and Edith's older brother is no longer mentioned just in passing!

Cardia’s eyes fluttered open as birds sang outside. Sun filtered in through the window, indicating that it was six or seven in the morning. Her conclusions were affirmed when she smelled the familiar aroma of Impey’s breakfast foods wafting throughout the house. Yawning and stretching out her arms, she got out of bed and put her clothes on for the day. She poked her head out of the room to see if anyone else was just getting out of bed as well, or if they had already gone downstairs for breakfast. She sighed when she saw Delly’s bedroom door firmly shut with the empty tray in front of it. 

_ “So he still hasn’t joined us for a meal…”  _ Even so, Cardia picked up the silver food tray and walked down to the kitchen to deposit the dishes in the sink. She was surprised to see that everyone was at the table except for Lupin.  _ “That’s odd. A lot of the time, he’s the first one down for meals.”  _ Cardia also noticed the extra place setting on the table as she got closer. “ _ Why is there an extra plate? Everyone knows Delly prefers to eat alone...”  _ Saint Germain smiled at her.

“Good morning, Cardia. You slept well, I trust?” he asked as she sat down in front of her food. Cardia nodded.

“Very well, thank you. Will Lupin be joining us?” she asked, putting her napkin on her lap before she started cutting into her berry french toast. Impey laughed while the others just sighed a little in their seats. Cardia looked at them, confused. “Is Lupin alright?”

“Oh, he’s fine,” Van Helsing replied dismissively, biting into a piece of sausage. “He’s taking care of something.” 

“Aw, come on, Van, it isn’t right to call a kid a thing. Besides, she’s really cute and tiny, so why are you being so dismissive?” Impey asked, grinning cheekily. Van Helsing glared at him.

“Don’t call me that. And I was hoping to broach the subject to Cardia a bit more delicately,” he retorted stiffly. Cardia ignored the banter, and focused her attention entirely on Impey.

“A...kid? You mean, a child?” she asked, beyond confused. She hadn’t known that Lupin was connected to any children. He had never mentioned any children for as long as she has been here, so why was he taking care of a child all of sudden? Victor rushed in to elaborate.

“Yes, Cardia. She was attacked last night, and Lupin saved her when he happened to be passing by. I gave her stitches and pain medication, but I miscalculated how long the pain medicine would keep her asleep,” he explained, sounding particularly sheepish during the last part.

“She woke up around three o’clock, Delly and Van Helsing found her, and she pummeled them with books from the library because they scared her,” Impey laughed. “Oh, I wish I could have seen the whole thing! I bet their expressions were priceless!” 

“Shut up, Impey, the kid was out of her mind with fear and paranoia. It’s not like Delacroix or I had anything to do with that,” Van Helsing snapped. Impey nodded, obviously 100 percent convinced.  

“Yeah, I’m sure that Delly didn’t threaten her because he thought she was trespassing,” he drawled, smirking. Van Helsing didn’t respond. “Uh huh, that’s what I thought.”

"I also recall hearing gun fire coming from the library around the time I was coming down to investigate,” Saint Germain added, sipping his tea and looking directly at Van Helsing. Van Helsing huffed as Cardia shot him a vaguely disapproving stare.

“I used the gun to shoot through the books she was throwing at us. It didn’t harm anything,” he defended, apparently not unaffected by the look Cardia was giving him. Victor snorted and sipped his own drink.

“Well, it sure didn’t help anything either,” he muttered. Van Helsing glared at him, but Victor didn’t seem all that disturbed by the dirty look. “Edith thought at first that me doing her stitches again was a punishment for what she did in the library, and I’m sure that you shooting a gun indoors probably shaped her perception of the situation. That’s all.”

“Good morning, everyone!” Lupin entered the dining hall, holding a small girl, no more than seven years old, against his side gently by her shoulder. Her keen grey eyes surveyed the table anxiously, as if someone was going to come out and attack her. Given the little girl’s experience with Van Helsing and Delly, Cardia didn’t find this surprising. However, she seemed to have cleaned up well. Her hair had been done in a loose braid that had a soft rose pink ribbon tied at the base of the braid in a basic bow, and she had been put in a loose fitting house gown for her, a pink that matched the ribbon in her hair. He seemed to be waiting for something during a few moments of awkward silence. Finally, Lupin nudged the little girl’s back and whispered something to her. She straightened.  

“Good...good morning everyone,” she mumbled. Everyone nodded at her, and Lupin led her to Cardia’s seat. 

“You didn’t have the pleasure of being there for last night’s events, Cardia,” Lupin began. He gestured to the little girl who had gone back to looking at the floor beside him. “This is Edith. She was attacked last night, so I brought her to the manor to see if we could help.” Edith looked up and held out her hand. Even though she knew the gloves could stop her poison from affecting anyone who touched her, but it still was worrisome. What if some part of her skin wasn’t covered? What if the material somehow degraded and leaked through the glove and hurt this child who had already been hurt so much? Nevertheless, she cradled the little girl’s hand gently.

“It is nice to meet you, Edith. I’m sorry for what happened to you last night and early this morning,” she said. Edith’s eyes widened a fraction as a tiny smile graced her delicate features. Thanks to the smile, Cardia could see the smattering of freckles that laid across her nose. 

“It’s...it’s ok, Miss Cardia. It was my fault,” Edith assured. “I like your jewels.” Cardia blinked. 

“My...jewels?” She looked down. Had someone put a necklace or bracelet or anything like that on her last night without her knowing? Honestly, she wouldn’t have put it past Impey to do such a thing. The little girl nodded.

“Uh huh. The jewels in your chest are very pretty,” Edith elaborated, pointing at the Horologium. Oh, she thought…? “How’d you get it like that? Are they piercings? I asked my brother if I could get my ears pierced, but he said I hafta wait until I’m older. Do they hurt you at all?” Cardia was about to answer when Lupin butted in, steering Edith to her seat.

“Ok, that’s enough prodding at Cardia, Edith. Come eat breakfast, and tell us a little about yourself,” Lupin invited, though the invitation sounded more like a distraction. Just like that, the open and friendly girl that had been chatting with Cardia withdrew into her shell, as if waiting meekly to be attacked again. She began picking at the sausage with her fork and nibbling, everyone waiting in silence. Finally, Edith seemed to sense that they were looking at her. She shrank into her seat a little more.

“O-oh, you meant that?” Lupin looked surprised.

“Of course I did. Why would you think I didn’t?” Edith shrugged and took another bite of the sausage and swallowed before opening her mouth hesitantly to speak.

“I...um…I’m….” she looked down at her plate and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly and then looked back up again. “What do you wanna know?” Edith finally asked softly. Victor looked at the girl sympathetically.

“Well, why don’t we start with your full name? Then we’ll tell you ours after, so that way you know who all of us are,” he suggested. Edith nodded, biting her tiny lip, obviously uncomfortable with all of the eyes on her. 

“My full name is Edith Rose Wulfric. I’m six years old.” Victor straightened in his chair, more alert now, even though there was confusion in his eyes, as if the name was familiar, even though he couldn’t exactly remember why.  “A-and you are?” Impey went first, grinning at her.

“Impey Barbicane, genius engineer, and I’m gonna be the first one to go to the moon,” he introduced proudly. Everyone else groaned, apparently used to this speech. Edith, however, looked intrigued.

“Why?” Impey looked at her for a moment, shocked, before he laughed.

“Why not? I’d go down in history as one of the greatest engineers to walk the Earth,” he boasted.

“Yeah, or one of the craziest,” Lupin muttered. “Don’t fill the child’s head with your fantasies of engineering feats.” Impey just laughed in response.

“Well, everyone’s gotta have some sort of dream, right?”

“But...but some astronomers think that the moon doesn’t have air. You couldn’t breathe if you went to the moon,” Edith said, very concerned, if Cardia was judging her reaction by the side eyes and creasing of her eyebrows. Impey beamed at her.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to find a way to have a supply of air then!” Before Edith could ask anymore questions, which she seemed to be wanting to do, based on her mouth opening another time, Van Helsing cut him off with a stern stare.

“Abraham Van Helsing,” Van Helsing said shortly, only making eye contact for a few seconds before looking back down at his meal. Edith nodded and looked away.

_ “Obviously she’s still scared of Van Helsing from earlier,”  _ Cardia thought. She couldn’t blame the child though; after all, it wasn’t too long ago that he had been intent on killing her too. Saint Germain smiled his typical Saint Germain smile at her.

“I am Saint Germain, little one. Apologies that your first impression of my home was not welcoming,” he said. Edith smiled shyly and nodded in acknowledgement.

“That’s ok. I’m sorry for waking all of you and hurting the books.” 

_“What an odd choice of words,_ ” Cardia thought.  _ “It’s almost as if she thinks of the books as actual people who are capable of feeling pain.”  _ Saint Germain just waved a hand nonchalantly. 

“They are just books. There are hundreds of thousands of them in the world,” he assured, even though he looked almost grateful for the apology of messing up his books. Victor smiled at her softly, as Edith used both of her tiny hands to grab her glass of milk and drink from it. 

“And you’ve met me already, but I don’t think I ever told you my name,” he chuckled. “My name is Victor Frankenstein.” Edith’s eyes widened as she choked on the milk she was drinking, dropping her glass all over her front. Lupin cursed and immediately began pounding her on the back rapidly in sheer panic.

“What did you say?” Van Helsing demanded, obviously unnerved by the girl’s choking fit. Victor shrugged, his face panicked. 

“I-I-I don’t know! You all heard me, I just said my name!” Cardia began using her own napkin to dab off the milk that had soaked into Edith’s gown, her confusion growing. Why would Edith have reacted in such a way? Victor seemed like one of the people she was most comfortable with, because he had been with her while she was being healed. Lupin’s hand began rubbing small circles into the girl’s back as she finally was able to breathe again. 

“You’re who we were looking for,” she exclaimed, pointing at Victor. Victor looked startled. 

“M-me? Why? Who’s we?” he asked, face turning paler. Everyone else seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as their postures and demeanors grew more cautious and alert. The little girl, on the other hand, grew even more excited, grinning and revealing a missing front tooth on the bottom row of teeth.

“Yes! Dr. Frankenstein, the last Royal Alchemist! Me and my brother came to London to find you. We saw the article that you caused a ‘splosion and everything, but my brother said that didn’t matter, ‘cuz you’re his friend from school, and that you’d help us find answers,” she replied, grinning madly. “Oh, my brother is gonna be so happy that I found you!”

“Who-who’s your brother?” Victor asked, truthfully a bit unnerved by the girl’s sudden shift in character.

“Why was he not with you yesterday evening?” Lupin demanded. Edith ignored him in favor of looking at Victor with an odd sort of reverence. If her eyes could have turned to stars like how girls’ eyes  sometimes did in the books Cardia had read, they definitely would have. Edith nodded slowly and thoughtfully.

“It has been a long time since my brother was in the Royal Academy.” Her demeanor shifted again, and she went back to crouching in her seat. “You...you might not ‘member him, but he really likes you, Doctor. He said you were friends.” Victor’s eyes softened at the girl’s demeanor. Even if her brother was potentially a threat, obviously his sister was not. Her heart was on her sleeve, or she was the most gifted child actress of all time, and Cardia’s money was on the first one.

Ugh, she needed to stop spending so much time with Lupin.

“I won’t know if that’s true unless you give me his name,” Victor said gently. Edith nodded.

“Right. Sorry. His name is Hugh? Hugh Durant Wulfric?” she asked hopefully, her tone sounding almost desperate? Why did she need to find Victor so badly? Victor’s eyes widened in recognition, and he looked incredibly relieved. Apparently everyone else seemed to notice the change as well, and they relaxed. The crisis had been averted for now.

“You’re Hugh’s baby sister? Little Edie?” Edith smiled again, this one seeming more relieved. 

“Uh huh! That’s me!” Victor sat back in his chair, obviously a little drained from the almost heart-attack that had overcome his bodily systems.

“Wow, Hugh Wulfric.” He chuckled a little uneasily. “That’s a name I never expected to hear again. What...What does Hugh want me for? Answers, you said?” Edith nodded again, much more relaxed this time, only her face was much calmer now.

“Yes. About my neck, and an art fact.” Cardia looked at Victor in befuddlement. She hadn’t known that he was an art aficionado as well as an alchemist and scientist. Based on Victor’s also puzzled look, he hadn’t known that he knew anything about art either. Van Helsing finally spoke up.

“Do you mean an artifact, kid?” he asked. Edith nodded zealously.

“Yeah, that!” Now that made more sense. Victor looked even more intrigued now, leaning forward across the table on his elbows.

“Why does he want me to look at your neck? What’s the artifact that he wants me to examine?” Cardia was leaning forward as well. She was curious. Edith shook her head, biting her lip. 

_ “Maybe a nervous habit?”  _ Cardia hypothesized.

“I dunno, ‘zactly. The art fact is something that’s been in my family a long time, but Hugh wants it gone. I dunno why he doesn’t just throw it away or sell it or somethin’,” Edith said. “It’s a coat.” Victor gazed at her almost clinically. Cardia recognized that as his “collecting data” face, the expression he had whenever he was considering any factor of a problem or coming up with a solution.

“Alright. What about your neck?” Edith scowled, rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms.

“Hugh thinks that the marks on my neck are hurting me, but they’re not. He wanted to see if you thought that they were hurting me or not,” she huffed. “I think he’s being a baby, but he won’t listen!” Impey had to cough to restrain a laugh at how much she openly despised the idea that her neck was worth looking at. Saint Germain hadn’t bothered hiding his chuckles at all.

_ “Her attitude changes faster than the weather does,” _ Cardia noted in her mind. Victor chuckled as well.

“Well, I can examine them after I give you full check up, to make sure that you’re attackers didn’t harm you anywhere else other than your side. Is this ok with you?” Edith nodded.

“Sure!” Lupin clapped his hands together once, abrupt and sudden.

“Wonderful. Now that that’s settled, I believe we should change you into more appropriate attire. Come along,” Lupin said, offering his arm. Edith took his arm without questioning it, and waved once more to Victor before Lupin practically dragged her to the stairs. Cardia blinked.

“Why did Lupin just take her like that?” Van Helsing just shook his head as he took a gulp of his drink.

“Who knows why Lupin does anything?”

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

25-year-old Hugh Durant Wulfric was at his wit’s end. He had lost his sister, his tiny, innocent, probably sick baby sister in the wilds of London, and he had been asking around all this week, and apparently no one had seen a little girl with long, out-of-control brown hair in London before. And some more of the freaks in masks had tried murdering him just yesterday night, and quite frankly, he was done with London’s tricks. Seriously, London could just go to hell, despite all the fond memories he had of the place while he had been here for school.

Well, at least he could be satisfied that the bird-brains had at least been dealt with properly. What with his… secret weapon, after all, it was almost impossible to kill him, when all of that power surged through his blood like a million shots of whiskey, the rush of adrenaline that powered him forward when there was fresh meat…

“No!” he shouted to himself, drawing several odd looks from passer-bys. He would NOT get addicted again. He had to stay clean, he had to stay sharp, because his innocent baby sister could be in trouble, and he needed to find her. Hell, one of his goals in this goddamned city was to destroy the source of his addiction. The universe seemed to love making his life difficult, because his one hope, the one friend who would not immediately judge him for his actions, was currently a wanted man, and therefore, was very difficult to find.

So he had finally brought himself to the address. He needed help, professional help, someone who knew London and all of England like the back of his hand. It was a long shot, but this was the only method of payment that he could think of, since he had spent his last pence on the train ride that had gotten him and his sister to the halfway point between Kent and London.

Hugh paced outside the entrance, planning out his words once more. This man was supposedly one of the cleverest men in all of England, perhaps even the world, so his words had to be practiced and perfect if he wanted the man’s help without said man prying into every crevice of his private life.

After all, even Hugh hated all of the skeletons in his closet. Hugh ran his hands through his wavy black hair, and he stared at his reflection. He had gone to the washroom in the local pub to rinse his face and attempt to gel and style his charcoal black hair with the soap provided, so he looked fairly decent. However, the dark, sallow bags under his steely grey eyes told another story completely, a story of loss and complete, utter desperation. Damn it, he’d get on his knees and beg if he had to, if that meant he could get his little Edie back and give her a better life than the one she had been born into.

He blamed his ancestry for this. The Wulfrics had always been associated with monsters, but for the past three centuries or so, the association had become very, very real.

Hugh shook his head. None of that talk for him. He had to focus on the task at hand. He knocked on the door and screwed his face into gentle smile, even though he felt absolutely no pleasure or happy emotion at the time. A maid answered the door and asked if she could help him. Hugh nodded.

“Yes, ma’am, thank you. I’m looking for the detective Herlock Sholmes. I have a case for him.”


	4. Chapter 4

Edith sat on the edge of her bed, kicking her legs back and forth as she waited for Mr. Lupin and Victor to come in. Mr. Lupin had tried to put her into a new dress, even though she insisted that she didn’t deserve another dress after ruining the first one.

“Nonsense,” Mr. Lupin had declared. “It was an accident, so why should you be punished when there was no ill intent?”

However, he respected her wishes and didn’t give her another dress. Instead, he gave her some long white socks, a pair of loose brown trousers, and a white blouse with a red bow tied around the neck. She had been delighted when she recognized this as a smaller version of the clothes that Miss Cardia had been wearing at breakfast.

Edith didn’t know if it was because Miss Cardia was a girl, or if it was because she had apologized for Edith’s own behavior, but she really, really liked Miss Cardia. Unlike the women in Kent who glared at her every time she went into the store to buy something, or the ones who hissed slurs and insults at her whenever she ran back to her house, Miss Cardia regarded her without judgement. Miss Cardia had looked scared when she went to her hand, yet she shook her hand anyways. That was something to be respected. Though Edith did feel bad that she had caused Miss Cardia to be so scared of her.

A knock echoed through her room. “Are you ready, Edith?” Dr. Frankenstein asked. Edith nodded, forgetting that the doctor couldn’t see her. She shook her head at her own foolishness.

“Yes, sir.” Dr. Frankenstein opened the door, and Lupin followed in behind him. Mr. Lupin smiled at her.

“Are the clothes fitting well?” Edith nodded.

“Very well, thank you.” Victor put his equipment on the bed and knelt down in front of her.

“Ok, Edith. So while I’m examining you, Lupin is going to ask you about last night when you were attacked. Is this ok with you?” Dr. Frankenstein asked. Edith shuddered at the memory of the figure’s blades cutting through her clothes and skin. The blades had been cool upon the initial contact, but that just made the stinging worse when they cut into her warm body, so much so that she thought everything in her body had been freezing to the point of her body fritzing and giving up. She hadn’t realized that she had been lost in thought until Dr. Frankenstein put his hand on her knee. She jumped a whole 15 centimeters up into the air, her heart racing. Lupin put a soft but firm hand on the spot right between her shoulders to steady her as she breathed quickly.

“Easy, Edith, easy,” he muttered soothingly. He continued rubbing her back in this way until her breathing seemed to even out. “You do not have to answer my questions right now if you don't think you can do it. We just want to be able to help you stay safe, that’s all.” Edith shook her, stubbornly chasing away the painful memories. She had to be brave for her new friends, especially when they were going out of their way to help her and Hughie like this.

“N-no. I’m alright. I’m sorry. I can answer questions,” she assured, inwardly cringing at how shakey her own voice sounded. That was NOT how a protagonist was supposed to speak! She had to be brave if she was gonna get answers! Both Mr. Lupin and Dr. Frankenstein looked at her with some unidentifiable emotion in their eyes, but they began getting themselves situated.

“We can stop at any time you feel uncomfortable, Edith. Just say so,” Dr. Frankenstein said. Edith nodded in understanding. “Can you take off the shirt for me, please? I would like to check on your wounds and take your heart rate.” Edith struggled a little bit with the tiny buttons of the blouse, so Mr. Lupin helped get them unbuttoned while Dr. Frankenstein put on his stethoscope. Edith shivered at the feeling of cold metal on her chest, but she frowned. This was made of metal. Most blades were made out of metal, but this didn’t feel anything like the blades that cut her. The blades hadn’t been smooth, but rather rough around the edges with a coarse texture, not anything smooth.  “Are you ok still, Edith?”

_ “No, I hate feeling like this, but I have to for Hugh.” _ “This doesn’t feel like the blades,” she blurted. Both men looked at her.

“Well, I would hope not. I don’t want this to hurt you,” Dr. Frankenstein said. Edith shook her head.

“No, no, not like that! You said in the library that blades cut me, but you didn’t know what kind. But blades are smooth and made of metal, like your speth…” she trailed off, trying to remember how to pronounce this word. “Steph...step…”

“Stethoscope,” both men said in unison. She nodded.

“Yeah, that, but they didn’t feel like the metal in your...thing,” she tried to explain, gesturing to the stethoscope with her hands.

“You don’t think blades are the things that hurt you,” Mr. Lupin summarized. She shook her head. Dr. Frankenstein looked thoughtful and grim at the same time.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Can you lift your arms, please?”  Edith did so as Dr. Frankenstein began to unwrap her bandages. Edith did her best not to look at the dried blood. Even though she liked to think she was brave, blood was one of those things that would just never ever sit well with her. The bandages came off easily, like gift wrapping off of a present. Despite everything in her telling her not to, she looked down at her side and immediately felt sick. For the most part her blood had been cleaned up, but the unnatural wrinkling of the her skin in the areas of where the thread pulled the two sections of skin together and the sticky black knots just made her stomach churn and her skin crawl.

"Edith? Can you look at me, please?” Mr. Lupin asked. Edith was grateful for the re-direction, because she certainly wouldn’t have been able to tear her gaze away from her injuries without it. She did so. His eyes were light brown, so light that they almost looked like the golden tree sap that sometimes leaked out of trees. “Good girl. Now, did you see your attackers last night? What did they look like?” Edith felt herself tense up, but she relaxed because Dr. Frankenstein had stopped examining her when she tensed up, and she just wanted this whole situation over with. She sighed. Being brave was kind of tiring.  

“Which group?” she finally asked, her voice small. Both Mr. Lupin and Dr. Frankenstein stopped breathing for a moment.

“There...there was more than one group of people who tried to hurt you last night?” Mr. Lupin asked. Edith nodded.

“Uh huh.” Mr. Lupin took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Describe the first group, please.” His voice sounded ridiculously controlled, as if he were trying not to get angry. She flinched back, but she reminded herself sternly that these people were trying to help her and that she was being ridiculous.  _ “Stop it, body!”  _ She swallowed thickly.

“D-dark. Very dark. They had black bird masks on, and all black clothes. I showed them Dr. Frankenstein’s picture in the newspaper but they took it away, and grabbed me and tried to drag me somewhere.” Mr. Lupin and Dr. Frankenstein both looked at each other again, this look an angrier and more meaningful look than the last.

“Where did they grab you, Edith?” Dr. Frankenstein asked quietly. Edith didn’t answer, recalling that night perfectly. No words had been spoken by the bird men that had loomed over her, which had made it all the more scary. “Did they grab you where I’m touching?” His fingers ghosted over her shoulders. She nodded and took a breath before speaking.

“Did…” she trailed off. “Did they leave…?” Mr. Lupin looked down while Dr. Frankenstein’s lips were set in thin, firm line, stretched so tightly that the corners of his lips were turning white.

“They left bruises, if that’s what you mean,” he answered quietly. “I’m going to put some of this cream on them. It should ease the achy feeling of the bruises and speed up the recovery process. Then I’ll do the same with the bruises on your forearms and ankles, ok?” Edith gasped when cold fingers touched her shoulders unexpectedly. Mr. Lupin grabbed her hands to steady her while Dr. Frankenstein yanked his hands away. “I’m sorry! A-are you ok? Did I hurt you?” he freaked. Edith let a breath out.

“N-no, s-s-sorry. Cold,” she managed to mumble out. Why was she acting this way? They were being so gentle with her, and it was obvious that they weren’t going to hurt her, so why was her body responding in such a rude way? Dr. Frankenstein winced.

“I’m sorry, Edith, I should have warned you about that,” he murmured. “I’m gonna examine your neck now. Let me know if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, please.” She cocked her head to the left side to give Dr. Frankenstein better access. Mr. Lupin knelt down in front of her.

“I know this has to painful for you, Edith, but I’m afraid this is necessary information. Did you see what the second group looked like?”

“No. The alley was dark when the second group came, so I didn’t-I couldn’t…!” Tears finally sprang to her eyes, and she swiped at her eyes angrily. Why was she crying? It had happened yesterday, she was safe, she had the opportunity to get answers, she was gonna be a heroine, she…!

...Was absolutely terrified out of her mind. Why had she been attacked last night? She hadn’t done anything! How dare the second group imply that being loyal to her brother was a bad thing? She had gotten separated from him, sure, but that was her fault, not Hugh’s, so who were they to judge about whether or not she should live or die because of their false thoughts about Hugh? She was also incredibly grateful for Mr. Lupin for saving her, but she still had no idea why he saved her! What if she had done something wrong to him too, and he was just being nice to lull her into a false sense of security before punishing her? Mr. Lupin sighed sadly, and Edith felt herself being moved to the floor. Her face was suddenly in Mr. Lupin’s chest as he stroked her hair gently.

“Maybe we should take a break. I’m sorry if I pressed too hard with my questions. It was not my intention to make you remember the pain,” he apologized quietly. Victor nodded in agreement.

“I got the observations I needed, so I don’t need to bother you anymore today,” he laughed weakly, patting her on the head. “If you’d like, we can try this again tomorrow?” Edith closed her eyes as more and more tears started to flow. Why were they being so nice? She was being a complete pain to deal with, but they didn’t seem to care! Nevertheless, she nodded. Edith felt the back of her head being stroked, just like her brother used to do whenever she was upset, so the tears began flowing even more. She missed her brother so much that it hurt. “Ok, then. Should I go tell the others what we’ve found out?”

“Please do,” Mr. Lupin said. Edith heard the door close as her hands subconsciously grabbed onto Mr. Lupin’s coat. Mr. Lupin stroked a hand down her back steadily.

“It’s ok, miss Wulfric. We’re going to protect you from Twi- I mean, the men in the bird masks and the other people, alright? I swear it on my honor as a gentleman. Nothing is going to get you here. You’re safe,” he cooed, his voice low and soft. She sniffled. How could she explain her feelings to him? He was the only one who she felt somewhat safe around, and yet--!

“I just want my big brother,” she replied into his chest in between whimpers. Lupin tightened his grip around her protectively. The similarities she noticed between Lupin and Hugh were something that she wasn’t quite used to.

“We’ll figure everything out, ok? We’ll find him, and we’ll take care of everything.”

Her tears continued to leak into his shirt.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Victor felt anger boil in the pit of his stomach. Twilight had reached a new low. A kid. A kid who was so young that she could barely answer any questions about why Hugh had been trying to find him in the first place. They wanted to come after him? Fine, let them. He may not have been much of a fighter, but the little girl’s reactions made him want to be.

“Why is she still crying?” Victor looked down at Delacroix II, confused, as he tried to rid his face of any anger.

“W-what?” Delacroix huffed and crossed his arms.

“I know you’re not deaf. Why is she still crying? It has been a day,” he pointed out. Victor sighed.

“She’s a little kid who was attacked twice in one night, three times if you count the library. That’s a lot for someone her age to deal with in such a short amount of time,” Victor replied. “Why do you want to know?”

“How old is she?” Delacroix wanted to know, instead of answering Victor’s question. “She looks only a little younger than me!”

“Six.”

“And she isn’t human?” Victor stopped walking and stared down at him. He was glaring, but it was more a glare of confusion rather than one of disdain and anger like when they had first tried to corner him in the forest.

“What makes you think that she isn’t human?” Delacroix scoffed as if the answer was obvious.

“You’re one of those human doctors. Didn’t she seem un-human to you? I smelled her blood, it wasn’t like yours or anyone else’s here.” Victor made a “huh” sound and stocked the information away for later.

“I did not get a full examination. She was trembling and shaking by the time I got finished looking at her neck.” Victor stopped suddenly. “Delly, have you ever seen a vampire bite mark?” Delacroix scowled at the name and looked like he wasn’t going to answer, but SiSi nudged his nose into Delly’s leg and forced him forward. Delly scowled at SiSi but got the hint as the Corgi pup seemed to smile. He crossed his arms again, surly, and looked at the ground.

“It depends on the intent. If it is just the biting for food, then yes. However, my family was against the turning of humans, in order to keep the bloodline true. Our fangs become like needles, and my people rarely use their bottom jaw when they turn anyone. Why is this important to you? Worried I’m gonna try to turn you?” Delly said it like a challenge. Victor kept his face neutral at the disdain in Delly’s eyes.

“There’s a bite mark on her neck that I don’t recognize. I’m ruling out vampire because there is a bottom row of teeth marks,” he said. “Thank you.” He turned to walk away, but he turned back at the last second, watching Delly look at Edith’s door intently. He restrained a smile.

“If you are wanting to apologize to Edith, I would recommend doing it later. She’s in no state to even understand if you say you’re sorry or not.” Delly spluttered, turning a bit red, before he muttered something and ran off, SiSi at his heels. 

“So the kid was attacked by two groups.” Victor jumped, a hand over his heart.

“Do you enjoy doing that?” he hissed. Van Helsing shrugged.

“I didn’t do anything. As a wanted man, your guard really should be higher.”

“Did you listen in on the questioning?” Victor asked. Van Helsing snorted.

“Hardly. Kid’s cries were loud enough to carry on to the next street over. Twilight was one of her attackers?”

“I’m getting really tired of these guys,” Impey interjected, coming up from behind Victor. Victor jumped up once again and gave him an exasperated look.

“Why would they try to take a kid?” Van Helsing asked. Victor leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

“I have a theory, albeit a far-fetched one. Edith mentioned that her brother wanted me to look at an artifact, but why would he want me to look at it? The child was on the right track, asking why Hugh didn’t sell or throw away the artifact. If it’s got magical or otherwise unexplainable properties, then that would explain why Hugh didn’t do any of the above. It must be pretty unexplainable if he came looking for me, he was second behind me at the Royal Academy before he quit. He had to have studied the artifact before doing anything drastic, like looking for me.” Victor mused, beginning to pace

“It seems strange that we haven’t yet met this mysterious Hugh figure,” Saint Germain said, sneaking up on Victor from the side. He jumped up one more time. “Was Hugh the type to abandon family in Lower London?”

“No, he wasn’t,” Victor muttered. “He dropped out because his parents had died. Edith would have been...what, two? Maybe younger? He dropped out because there was no one else to take care of Edith and his other two sisters. He talked about Edith the most, though. His mother sent pictures, and there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t tell me about something his sisters did,” he rambled. Victor ran a hand over his face and sighed. “You think that Twilight is after Hugh and the artifact and tried to nab Edith as insurance?”

“That sounds like something that they’d do,” Van Helsing muttered.

“Why would Twilight want this artifact, then?” Cardia asked. The men spun towards her, and she regarded them expectantly. “If...If Twilight really wants this artifact, it must be important. If we figure out what the artifact is, then we can find out what Twilight’s ultimate plan is. Perhaps, it’s connected to what they want with me,” she predicted.

“What about the second group? Do they play a role in this? Are they with Twilight? Against them?” Van Helsing pointed out.

“Well, if they were with them, then why didn’t they let the Twilight take Edith?” Impey asked.

This conversation continued to go in circles, but they came to one conclusion.

They needed to find Hugh Wulfric.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we get to know more about Hugh! Let's get to know all about him and his demons.

Hugh took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Thankfully, an inn in Lower London had taken pity on him, and had given him free room and board for the rest of the week. Hugh tried not think of the fact that the innkeeper had been high on some form of opium when he offered a place to stay, just in case the man was now sober enough to re-think that choice. He had a bath, ate a full meal, and had awaited Sholmes’ call from the telephone.

Surprisingly, it had not been difficult to get Sholmes to take the case. Yes, for private cases, he did expect payment, but apparently a rare, magi-scientifical artifact to use in the case had piqued his curiosity enough to act as payment. The hardest part of their terms was that Sholmes had told him not to search for Edith as well.

“If more than one person or group is searching for your little sister, Mr. Wulfric, then I can guarantee that you searching for her as well will only make things more complicated for me,” Mr. Sholmes had warned. “It is easier for everyone in the long run if I can tell my rivals from the clients.”

Now, Hugh was in the district of Upper London, at the London Library. It was not the British Museum library, since you practically had to be a part of the royal court to get in there, but it was the next best thing for average, everyday citizens.

_“But you’re not an average, everyday citizen, are you? Average, everyday citizens don’t have the experiences you have had,”_ a voice in his head mocked cruelly. Hugh grit his teeth and buried his head further into the stack of leather-bound books he had surrounding him on the table. The words on the page in front of him seemed to float in front of his eyes, dancing and teasing him with too much information that he didn’t need. He pinched his arm hard to bring him back to reality as he re-read the words on the page.

**_Werewolves of England, entry from 1860_ **

**Werewolves are demi-humans that morph into wolves when the full moon is at its peak in the sky for the night. When not in wolf form, the werewolf is still emotionally perceptive (making them masters of manipulation), intelligent, cunning, strong physically and in will, and are known for their yellow, red, or grey-colored eyes, the eyes thought to be held only by demons. The older they become, werewolves will have heightened senses of sight, scent, hearing, and touch in both wolf and human forms. Though they do not have durability of VAMPIRES (see page 635) in regards to human-caused injury, their healing process is quadruple the speed of a regular human’s and twice that of a vampire’s.**

**In a study done by Isaac Beckford on willing werewolf prisoners of war in 1850, it was discovered that werewolves’ blood carries high concentrations of potassium and sodium. The abundance of these two chemicals allows the cells to function more quickly and more effectively, thus giving them their strength and speed. However, this means that werewolves are highly susceptible to silver. There are also traces of nitrates in the a werewolf’s blood, so the compound  is fairly common in the blood stream. Potassium can react poorly with the Silver Nitrate that is immediately formed when silver enters the bloodstream. Therefore, silver is the only element that can kill them instantly if it comes in contact with werewolves’ blood. However, the silver can be placed on werewolf skin, and the skin cells will begin to deteriorate. Getting to a werewolf’s skin through their thick fur, though, is incredibly difficult.**

**Once allies of the humans, many of the werewolves were used as agents of espionage for the VAMPIRES (see page 635) in the VAMPIRE WARS (see page 656) ranging from 1847 to 1857. Therefore, for the security of the nation of England, all werewolves in the country of England and its territories were exterminated in 1861.**

Hugh grit his teeth. “ _Obviously.”_ The rest of the article was useless, since it was about the British Empire’s effort to befriend the werewolves who had been displaced after the Vampire Wars, only for them to rebel and kill every human they could. He didn’t want to befriend any remaining werewolf, he wanted to destroy all of them, and their stupid artifact, and the silver was not doing a damn thing!

_“Do you really want to exterminate it though, Hugh Wulfric? Think of what it gave you. Think of that power, that ability to change the world. Why would you want such an enabling force gone from your life?”_ the voice asked, this time actually sounding curious instead of condescending. Hugh felt himself fall into the temptation once more, a heavy blanket of want seeming to weigh down his shoulders. _“Yes… take control of your responsibility…”_

“Sir?” A long time ago, Hugh would have flinched at the unexpected approach. However, his long exposure to the artifact had allowed him to hear the footsteps from at least 20 meters away.  The short and bald but mustached man practically breathed down his neck, despite being three feet or so away. “We will be closing in fifteen minutes. If you’d please put all of your books on the cart over there, and we’ll shelve them before closing.” Hugh shut the book and stood up stiffly.

“Very well.” He did as he was told and walked straight out the door before turning left for the inn. Maybe he’d sneak in through a window, to avoid having to confront the innkeeper, in case he really did change his mind about his offer. However, when he turned down an alley, he immediately turned back into the streets. The bird men had found him again, only this time instead of three to outrun and outsmart, there were seven. His scowl deepened, remembering his first night in London.

* * *

 

_Hugh bowed respectfully, and Edith, likewise, had curtsied for the guards surrounding London. They were stopped at one of the security checkpoints, but it didn’t seem to be anything too serious, just proof that they were British citizens and weren’t harboring weapons of mass destruction._

_Well, at least he could say that he and Edith met one out of two of those criteria._

_“Names?” the gruff security guard asked. His voice matched his incredibly tall stature. Edith, bless the poor child’s soul, gripped his hand tighter and took a tiny step backwards. Hugh gently pulled her forwards again._

_“Hugh Wulfric and Edith Wulfric of Kent, sir,” he answered, handing over his and Edith’s identification papers. He had considered whether or not that they should have used aliases, but considering he was already lying enough to fill a journal with all of his mistellings, he had ultimately decided that the less lies that they could possibly get caught in, the better. The security guard looked at them skeptically but nodded._

_“Head in. A word of advice. Change into more suitable clothing. Everyone will assume you’re from the lower end and will try to take advantage of you,” the man warned. Hugh nodded and kept his face level, even though he knew that their clothing options were limited._

_“Thank you for the advice, sir.”_

_“Thank you, sir,” Edith echoed with a chirp, pulling Hugh forward by the hand. He chuckled despite himself._

_“The city isn’t going anywhere, Edie. Slow down for a moment,” he chastised softly. Edith gave the security guard a nervous glance from over her shoulder._

_“I know, silly, cities can’t move. The man was making me…” she trailed off, looking at the ground as she walked. Hugh anxiously pulled her out of the way of a horse that didn’t look like it was going to stop for her._

_“Nervous? Uncomfortable?” he suggested as he looked both ways before crossing the street. They began walking again. Edith nodded._

_“Both.”_

_‘You and me both, dear,’ he thought as he ran a hand down the back of her head, just like his mum and dad had done for him when he was Edith’s age. Instead of voicing his thoughts, he forced himself to chuckle._

_“Don’t worry, dear, there is no reason to be afraid of the security here. They have to be intimidating so they can catch all of the bad guys, right?” Edith nodded and finally looked up. Despite her anxious behavior, her big bright eyes were full of wonder at the magnificence of the innovations that soared or towered above her. Despite the serious reasons that they were in London, Hugh was ecstatic to be back. Some people complained about how the steam clouded up vision constantly, but he found it easier to see with the steam._

_It allowed a person to see what could be done, rather than what society said should have been done. Hugh laughed when a miniature ornithopter flew over their heads, being powered by steam and gears._

_“Hughie? What’s all this white cloud stuff?” Despite the heaviness of the artifact folded in his knapsack, he straightened and smiled._

_“This, Edith, is the future,” he began excitedly. “It’s called steam. Steam is what happens when liquid water is turned into a gas. When water is a gas, it is extremely mobile, so it can move quickly and freely, but if you apply it just so, it can make gears and cogs turn, so that energy is made in machines,”he explained further before trying to describe the exact processes in which steam could be harnessed. Edith giggled, cutting off his miniature lecture._

_“Hughie, you’re babbling again,” she laughed. Hugh turned red and opened his mouth to apologize when Edith grinned widely and hugged his arm. “I like it when you babble. It means that you’re happy.” Hugh patted her head fondly._

_“Yes, I guess so. Now, allons-y, we have research to do!” With that, he scooped her up and placed her on his shoulders, making the girl squeal with glee, her braid practically flying in the wind. They made their way to the artifact shops, in that skinny sliver of territory between the regions of Lower and Upper London._

_A red-headed fellow, only about 17, gazed at the coat through a magnifying lens of some kind as he carded his fingers through the thick fur. “And this is an artifact, you say,” he said skeptically, voice nasally. Hugh restrained the urge to roll his eyes, while Edith had actually glared at the man for the tone he had taken. Normally, he’d scold her for her lack of manners, but he was equally irked with the kid, since this is twelfth time that he had asked that since he started examining it._

_“Yes.”_

_“Well, I hope you don’t expect any money from it. This is a shop for either scientific or magical artifacts, and I can say for certain that this rag is neither,” the teenager sniffed. Hugh stiffened. This idiot obviously didn’t know anything._

_“I’d like an expert to examine this, please. I need a professional, not his apprentice,” Hugh managed to say calmly. The lanky teenager’s face slowly turned as red as a strawberry._

_“Are you questioning my abilities as a magi-archaeologist?” Hugh felt his already thinly-veiled patience crack, and his tone turned hostile. Hopefully, Edith never followed his example or his mannerisms._

Hugh slammed one of the Bird Masks into the wall, effectively knocking him unconscious at the very least. A part of him was hoping that he had maybe put the guy into a coma, maybe even killed him. Normally, another part of him would protest, saying that that wasn’t who Hugh was, but that part was silent. They were the reason he had gotten separated from Edie before, and why he was anxiously praying that Sholmes didn’t get consumed by his method of payments. Hugh choked when one of the Bird Masks attacked him from behind and held their forearm against his throat.

“Where is the artifact?” Well, there was no holding back, since he now knew for certain what they were after. Hugh brought both hands up to the Bird Mask’s forearm before curling himself forward and flipping the assailant forward.

_“That’s it, Hugh. Don’t hold back when you and everything you love is in danger,”_ the voice encouraged.

There couldn’t be any holding back, then. He had to fight for the good of his little sister and the rest of England.

_Hugh held back from launching himself across the counter to throttle the man who seemed to have cow testicles for brains.“You buy and sell artifacts, firstly, something an archaeologist would never do. If you had any respect, then you’d take these artifacts and display them at a museum. Secondly, you don’t even seem to be old enough to even buy a proper drink, so you must be an apprentice. I can assure you this is a magical or a scientific artifact.”_

_Edith winced at the venom in his words, so he stroked the front of her calf calmly, since she was still on his shoulders. The man spat at him, only to misaim and hit Edith’s legs. She made a disgusted face, but she didn’t say anything. Hugh saw red as he tore the fur cloak off the counter and onto the floor. He took out his miniature pistol and shot the offending fabric three times. He clicked the safety back on and threw the cloak onto the counter again._

_“There aren’t any bullet holes or even any dents in the cloak. I have tried to destroy it in the fire, stabbing it, everything, but nothing works,” Hugh emphasized through gritted teeth. “And I have a feeling that this is way beyond you. Go get your master, apprentice,” he hissed. The apprentice, wide-eyed, didn’t break eye contact as he walked backwards slowly into the back room. Hugh flinched as he felt Edith shake on his shoulders. Heaving a tired sigh, he maneuvered her so that he was just holding her in his arms. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Edie. Never do what I just did, understand?” he instructed, toning down his voice to comforting mutter. Edith shrugged._

_“You tell me that a lot. I know.” Hugh chuckled._

_“Good, because I really do not want you to be like me.” Edith pecked her brother’s cheek._

_“Well, that’s dumb, because you’re great,” she said, stubbornness lacing her voice. Hugh just forced himself to chuckle as he let her down. Edith immediately took notice of a little girl about her age with cornsilk blonde hair who shared the same eyes as the apprentice. She went over and started a conversation as they sat down on the floor together._

_“If you are getting rid of the cloak, then I fail to see why haggling a poor apprentice to try to destroy it is necessary,” Hugh turned and saw a beefy, pale man with shaggy brown hair and a neatly trimmed goatee leaning up against the wall, probably a customer._

_“I fail to see how what I do with my artifact is any of your business,” Hugh replied coldly._

_“You fail to do a lot of things,” the man snapped. Hugh scoffed at the insult._

_“Are you waiting for someone? Because I know a spectacular apprentice here who really knows what he’s doing when it comes to artifacts,” Hugh offered, not becoming offput just yet. The man pushed himself up off the wall and stalked over to Hugh. He was at least three heads taller, but Hugh just stared up at him, unimpressed. If he wanted to fight, then he’d have to fight in front of two little girls. If the man just wanted to nose into his business, he was in no danger. “What trouble do you have with me?” The man snorted._

_“I think a more appropriate question would be what trouble DON’T I have with you, Hugh Durant Wulfric.”_

“Hugh Durant Wulfric, you are wanted by Twilight on suspicion of murder and conspiracy against Her Majesty Queen Victoria, as well as illegal possession of a magi-scientifical artifact. You’re a smart man, always have been, based on your Royal Academy transcripts. Come with us quietly, and no one else gets hurt,” one of the remaining three Bird Masks tried to cajole. Hugh had his back against the brick-wall dead end of the ally.

Hugh stood up straighter and stared his attackers straight in the mask.

“Who do you think I have murdered?” he asked, his voice steady. “I have only been in London for a week or so, gentlemen, that isn’t a whole lot of time to carry out the heinous crimes that I’m being accused of.”

“The murder of your little sister, Edith Rose Wulfric,” the Bird Mask replied, his victorious sneer evident in his voice. “She is missing, is she not?” Hugh paled before he felt himself boil.

“You dare accuse me? You know my sister ran off when you bird brains tried to capture me in the first place,” he said quietly. Before they could answer or even know what was happening, they were knocked off of their feet, and blood pooled out from underneath their bodies. “Leave Edith out of whatever scheme you have for me or the artifact, or I will become the murderer you want me to be.” He stalked away as the Bird Mask, no, Twilight cronies twitched in agony on the pavement, unable to move anymore than that. He double-backed to the library to make sure he wasn’t being followed before making his way back to the inn.

_Hugh and Edith left the artifact shop, dejected, as the sun began to set. They walked for a couple minutes in depressed silence as Hugh looked for an inn they could possibly steal a room from. “I’m sorry we didn’t get the answers you wanted, Hughie,” Edith finally said, hesitant. Hugh tried to smile, but he felt like it came off as more of a grimace._

_“It is not your fault, dear. We’ll just try another shop tomorrow, hm? And then we’ll go and try to find my friend. Does that sound like a plan?” he asked. Edith nodded before turning around and back again._

_“Are the men in bird masks part of London security, Hughie?” Edith asked. “‘Cuz they look intimidating for sure!” Hugh shrugged._

_“Maybe. Maybe there’s some sort of festival going on or something.” Hugh and Edith kept walking, coming up on an inn, when suddenly all of his body hair stood up. He yanked Edith down an alley and saw that the bird men kept up the tailing. ‘So much for that. I don’t know who they are, but there’s no way that they can have Edith or the artifact.’ He looked down at Edith who had her face contorted in discomfort. ‘But I definitely don’t want them to have the two together.’_

_“Owwwwww,” Edith whined. Hugh grimaced sympathetically, but he didn’t stop to apologize. He brightened when he saw his chance, a group of homeless or jobless people crowding around a stalled royal carriage, next to a black iron steam lamp on one of the main streets._

_“Edie, I know this is going to sound strange, but you have to trust me and do exactly as I say, alright dear?” he asked, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. Edie looked up at him, her cheeks puffed out in a pout, but she nodded regardless. “Excellent. You see that lamppost over there?” Edith nodded again. “Alright, when I say ‘go’, you are going to run as fast as you can to that pole and hold on tight. You are to stay there until I get back, do you understand?”  Her eyes widened in obvious dismay._

_“You’re...you’re leaving me?” she asked, her expression obviously one of hurt. He shook his head rapidly, his mind going blank for a moment in a panic._

_“No, darling, of course not! I just have to run a grown-up errand. I won’t be long, but since we don’t have a place to stay yet, I need a place to find you. That lamppost is going to be that place, so you must stay there at all costs until I come for you. Do you understand me, Edith Rose? This is very important, lest I lose you,” he explained further, feeling his voice becoming desperate. Edith must have picked up on his emotions because her pained, confused expression turned into one of resoluteness. She nodded and hummed in agreement. He smiled._

_“Good girl. Wait for my word.” They walked a few more paces until they were submersed in the crowd. “Go, Edith! Now!” Edith let go of his hand and shoved her tiny body past all of the impoverished people surrounding the royal carriage._

_With that, he picked up giant scarf that had been discarded off the ground to wrap around his head and led the Bird Masks away from Edith’s location. Once he was isolated enough he opened his pack and put on the cloak, desperate. These guys would not leave him alone, and he had heard and felt them shoot off their firearms once he was in close enough range. They were obviously try to harm them. After he dragged their bodies to an industrial shredding facility with his powerful mouth (to be turned into steam through processing of the gas released when animals decomposed), he took off the bloodied fur cloak and anxiously walked back to their meeting lamppost, now glowing brightly because night had fallen a long time ago._

_Only the little six-year-old girl was not there. He felt his already thudding heart drop down to thud in stomach instead._

_“Edith? Edie? Come on, darling, this isn’t funny, alright? Come out now,” he called, his voice shaking with the effort of trying to just stay calm._

_Nobody came._

_“Edith Rose Wulfric, I’m going to count to three, and if you are not in front of me by then, then you are going to be in big trouble! One,” he called out to the space._

_The only response he got was the echo of his own cracking voice._

_“Two,” he called again, his voice pitching higher._

_There was no response._

_“Three…” he trailed off, tears finding their way onto his cheeks as his voice gave out. “Oh God, no,” he muttered, trying not to break out into sobs on the pavement. However, something inside of him snapped as he tried to glare at God for all of the misfortune he had to endure. How dare He take away the one person that reminded him that he was human, the one person that made his miserable life worth living when there was literally no one else who would accept them or their family’s history?!_

_It wasn’t fair._

_“EDIE!”_

* * *

 

Hugh climbed in through the window of the inn into his room and replaced the metal bars. He looked all around the room for a secret telegram that Sholmes said he would be sending with any progress he made at tracking down Edie. There was nothing. Without even taking off his blood-soaked clothing, Hugh collapsed on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Maybe he should have let Twilight take him and the artifact. After all, he was guilty of murder, if he thought about, which he constantly did.

He had killed Edith the moment he left her by herself by that lamppost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get out! School and work has been a thing, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


End file.
